Course Description

This course is designed to prepare the Certified Imago Therapist to present intensive 20-hour couples workshops and starts with a five day personal growth segment designed to help the clinician actualize their full potential as a presenter.

This training also helps deepen your understanding of the theory and supports personal growth. The focus on personal growth work is to help participants become better presenters. The course includes sharing theory, personal stories, demonstrations, and handling challenges of being a first-class Imago workshop presenter. Take your Imago knowledge to a new level and experience the joy of presenting this material to couples. 

Successful Graduates may:

• Represent themselves publicly as Certified Couples Workshop Presenters.
• Conduct Getting the Love You Want: Workshop for Couples.
• Receive labels from the IRI inquiry data base for their local area to market their Couples Workshops and have workshops listed on the Imago website.
• Have use of IRI’s heart logo to market the Getting the Love You Want: Workshop for Couples.
• Present up to one-day seminars or lectures on Imago Relationship Therapy for educational and/or marketing purposes.
• Present one-day seminars or lectures to professionals on Imago Relationship Therapy for educational and/or marketing purposes as long as it is clear in all promotional material that the seminar or lecture is educational and is not considered a training or a certification program.  

Learning Objectives

This course prepares Certified Imago Therapists to present the “Getting the Love You Want” couples workshops. It begins with a five-day personal growth segment to help you reach your full potential as a presenter. You will conduct a small Getting the Love You Want workshop between Modules 1 and 2, and 2 and 3, which you will record and bring to each subsequent three-day segment of the Workshop Presenter Training.

Admission Pre-requisites:

• All applicants for the Workshop Couples Presenters Training Program must have practiced as a Certified Imago Therapist for the period of two years.
• A letter of recommendation from their original clinical instructor in the Basic Clinical Training Program.
• A letter of recommendation from one other faculty member.
• Applicant must have taken #501 Preparation for Committed Partnership: Singles Clinical Training (40 hrs) before this training.
• Applicant must have taken #504 Characterological Growth: The Three-day Experience (24 hrs) before this training.
• Applicant must have participated as an assistant at four “Getting the Love You Want: Workshop for Couples” led by a Certified Workshop Presenter with positive reports turned in by the presenter.  

Admission Requirements:

• The applicant must be a member in good standing with IRI as indicated by a letter from the chair of the IRI Board Membership Committee.
• Submit the Workshop Presenter registration form.
• Submit a DVD unedited recording of a 1.5 hour session with a couple to the Institute at the time of the application.
• Submit a DVD showing work as a public speaker or workshop leader taped in front of an audience done within the last twelve months.  

Please note: In regions where WP training is not regularly available, Imago Relationship Therapists who have not been certified for two years or have not attended two advanced trainings may, at the discretion of the Clinical Instructor, be allowed to enter the WP Training. However, they will not be certified or able to offer Workshops to the general public until they meet these two requirements (two years post-certification and attendance at Characterological Growth and two other advanced trainings).

Requirements for the Course:

• It is mandatory to attend all formal training sessions without exception.
• The first five days of training must be attended in person.
• Completion of all assigned reading materials is required.
• Participants are responsible for organizing and leading two GTLYW workshops. These workshops should involve couples from the participants’ practice and should not be publicly advertised or offered.
  • Workshop I: Held between Sessions I and II.
  • Workshop II: Held between Sessions II and III.
• Participants must provide video excerpts from each workshop, which will be used during the relevant training sessions.
• A Workshop Presenter contract with IITI must be executed.

Requirements after the Course:

To become a Certified Workshop Presenter (WP), the Workshop Presenter Candidate must fulfill the following criteria within 18 months of completing the formal course:

• Write and submit a workshop manual to their Clinical Instructor(s) which includes a full text of lectures, description of experiential processes and written exercises. This is not designed to be innovative. It is to make sure you have the material well in hand and at your fingertips. Feel free to add your own personal illustrations, but don’t take liberties with the outline or material.
• Lead TWO (20 hour) couples workshops, and only two, until certification. The second workshop must be observed on-site and evaluated by a Certified Clinical Instructor. A positive evaluation by the Certified Clinical Instructor must be submitted to IRI and to the Course Instructor(s). (Note: The Workshop Presenter Candidate is responsible for the travel expenses of the on-site observer and an honorarium of $500 for a minimum of five hours of observation).
• Submit all participant evaluations from all four training workshops to the Course Instructor(s).

Continuing Education

• All Certified Couples Workshop Presenters must accrue 10 hrs of Continuing Education every two years. This is the case for all advanced certifications. A common method of gaining the 10 hrs of CE credits is by either joining a supervision group or by sending in videotapes for supervision (this is for supervision only and not for evaluation). By attending one annual Imago International Conference it may be possible to receive all 10 credits. By sending in a videotape for supervision, you will receive 2.5 CE credits. All advanced courses in the catalog state how many credits they give.
• Attend the annual Workshop Presenters Update meeting at least every other year. This is usually held at the Annual Imago International Conference. However, all Workshop Presenters are encouraged to attend the IRI annual conference every year. If this requirement cannot be done for some important reason, the Workshop Presenter may fulfill this requirement by assisting at a Couples Workshop put on my a faculty member and meeting with that member for one hour after the workshop for feedback. The faculty member then needs to send a positive report to the Professional Training Coordinator.
• Therapists must inform the Institute in writing upon the completion of the update requirements. If they are not completed, the Workshop Presenter must cease doing workshops until the requirements are met. If the Workshop Presenter is inactive for two years, they must attend the annual Workshop Presenters Update and assist at a workshop offered by a Clinical Instructor before they resume offering workshops to the general public. If they have been inactive for five years or more, they need to discuss with the dean how they may become active again.